Symbols, signs and meanings are also another theory to post-modernism. Mass media like television and the internet have exposed us all to different cultures and ideas from across the globe, also known as globalisation. The ‘meanings’ of things have now become more individualised,…
In the first passage, written by D. Brown uses laconic diction and vivid imagery to…
It is nearly impossible to realize the significance maps have on societies and culture without first disconnecting from the technologically driven reality we face today, and placing ourselves 400 years back in time…on that dark and dangerous ship in which John Smith was a passenger of. This paper will discuss not only the importance that Smith’s hand-written maps previously had and still currently possess, but also analyze their structural changes over time and how these changes correlate with the birth of a new nation in progress. Beyond the assimilation of key qualitative features of the sources, it is my hope to show that the maps contain much more information than the location of physical landmarks and city…
This relates to the idea that Barthes was articulating from The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies, “Maupassant often lunched at the restaurant in the Tower, though he didn’t care much for the food: It’s the only place in Paris, he used to say, where I don’t have to see it.”(23). Overall, the indication of what Barthes is suggesting is that dining in the Eiffel Tower was stepping inside the machine of what he disliked most to move away from its power. The machine that is being displayed is the body understanding what reality is for each person. For instance, a simulacrum which is an inadequate imitation of something. Baudrillard argument of hyper reality demonstrates the notion of the simulacrum exquisitely. “[Simulation] is the generation of models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal… The real is produced from memory banks, models or control- and it can be reproduced an indefinite number of times from these …There is a proliferation of myths of origins and signs of reality.” For example, the hyper reality could symbolize the reality of a credit card or you observing a football game on your television set at home. Although, there is no distinct inside or outside primarily; just the line between real and…
Herbert argues that maps have to distort reality because it is extremely hard to make an exact replica of the Earth on a piece of paper. “But on a map, the world is changed from a sphere into a rectangular plane and shrunken down to fit on an 8 ½” by 11” piece of paper, major highways are reduced to measly lines on a page, and the greatest cities in the world are diminished to mere dots” (Herbert). In the previous quote, Herbert is explaining that so much is changed and reduced on a map because of the major change from a ginormous sphere to a piece of paper. “The fact that maps distort reality cannot be denied. It is absolutely impossible to depict a round earth on a flat surface without sacrificing at least some accuracy”…
In the chapter named, The Evocative Power of Things by anthropologist and prolific blogger Grant McCracken in his book called Culture and Consumption, McCracken is concerned with the development of hopes and ideals that manifest themselves into displaced meanings which can take the form of consumer goods or actual locations in time and space (Pg. 104). A culture creates displaced meaning for its hopes and ideals in order to keep them safe from the harsh truths of reality as a way to lessen the gap between the “ideal” and “reality”. He looks at the power of these inanimate objects as physical manifestations or “bridges” to our hopes and ideals and what they can communicate in regard to our individual or cultural values…
Society has now entered a new, postmodern age, and we need new theories to understand it (33 marks)…
* Deconstruction is part of a broader field of criticism known as “post-structuralism,” whose theorist have included Jacques Derrida, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, among others. Each of these writers has looked at modes of representation – from alphabetic writing to photojournalism – as culturally powerful technologies that transform and construct “reality”.…
Lyotard (1984) who is a postmodernist states that a postmodern society is characterised by a loss of confidence in metanarratives – the big stories or grand explanations provided by science, religion and politics. This is because their claim to the truth has been questioned as there is now more than one answer and as a result of this traditional institutional religion has been undermined. Bauman goes further to say that this produces a ‘crisis of meaning’…
Walter Benjamin and Umberto Eco both present their views on imitation and authenticity in their respective works “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and “Travels in Hyperreality,” providing distinctive philosophies on the effects of reproductive technology on society. What are Benjamin’s views of authenticity? How does Eco take the “absolute fake” to be the hallmark of American civilization? Finally, does the “absolute fake” or inauthenticity pose a greater threat to today’s society?…
In the short story “Signs and Symbols”, the author Vladimir Nabokov tells the story of a poor, elderly couple from Russia who want to visit their son for his birthday. The theme of this story has to do with depression and insanity. The parents seem as if they are depressed because they no longer have their son living with them because he is insane. As the parents get ready to visit their son, the mother makes sure to wear all black not knowing what may set their son off. Their son is institutionalized in a sanitarium because he was diagnosed with referential mania. Nabokov illustrates depression and insanity through imagery, symbolism, and conflict.…
Dystopian texts portray worlds in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of utopia is maintained through propaganda and indoctrination at the expense of altruistic human values. Fritz Lang’s expressionist, science-fiction film Metropolis (1927) and George Orwell’s dystopic novel 1984 (1949) both critique the imposition of conformity and excessive control in society, as well as caution against misguided scientific hubris, whilst highlighting the significance of the individual. Through the comparative study of these texts, responders attain an enhanced understanding of the context’s influence on the representation of these polysemic and multifaceted societal concerns.…
References: Appignanisi, R., and Garratt, C. (2004). Introducing Postmodernism. Lantham, MD: National Book Network, Inc.…
During this period modern America was born and the American dream has been intellectually lost. After the civil War a strong critical movement toward realism appeared. Realism has been defined by one of its most vigorous advocates, W.D.Howells, as “the truthful treatment of materials” (i.e. realism= verisimilitude “the appearance of being true or real”).…
On a typical day, as an average person--whether going to work, school, or simply to the store--we all run into many different types of signs and symbols. Signs include smells, sounds, or motions which could indicate food, danger, or the existence of others. A symbol is that which makes us merely think of the object mentioned. From the time I got up until the time I got to English class at Casper College, I encountered numerous signs and symbols that I never would have thought twice about.…